Who We Are

OUR HEAD OFFICE TEAM

We have a relatively flat structure – we aren’t driven by bureaucracy or status but by client services and needs. Everyone is hands-on; we share information about day-to-day happenings at our clients’ premises and troubleshoot together. Our culture is open, receptive, supportive and expansive.

SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM

Providing specialist expertise and day-to-day management of services to clients as well as training and back-up for staff.

Richard Bent

Director

Richard started the company in 1985 and has led the business through over 30 years of growth. He has embedded his entrepreneurial spirit and leadership firmly in Lakethorne and continues to oversee the strategic development of the business with a strong focus on leading the team to ensure we retain the culture, values and standards our clients have come to expect from us. He takes an active role in driving operational and financial excellence and the continuous improvement of service quality, maintaining key relationships with our clients.

Maria Lopes

Operations Manager

Maria joined the Lakethorne Group in January 2016 as an Operations Manager and brings with her a wealth of experience from working within the cleaning industry in London for over 12 years. Maria is highly focused on ensuring her cleaners have all the right tools and training to enable them to provide an excellent first class service to our client base and with the support of her Area Managers and Supervisors, is fully focused and committed in providing a high level of site presence, to constantly monitor, inspect and guide our cleaning teams on the ground. Maria is a BICSc Qualified Assessor and is working towards an NVQ in Management.

Paul Southwood

Operations Manager

Prior to entering the cleaning industry 8 years ago, Paul graduated with a BSc Hons in Audio Engineering.

Paul joined the Lakethorne Group in January 2016 as Contract Manager for the London Ambulance Service. With the help of his experienced team he ensures that the cleaning standards at London’s 80+ ambulance stations are kept consistently high by providing a high standard of personnel with good ethics, commitment and reliability. With an interest in programming, Paul also developed a bespoke web client portal for the LAS and is currently developing a Lakethorne mobile app.

At the start of 2018 he was promoted to Operations Manager, where he now holds overall accountability for service delivery across a varied client portfolio, and is responsible for managing a team of Area Managers, supervisors and mobile teams.

If you would like to discuss contract cleaning, security guarding or our general facilities management services to make your premises pleasant and safe places to work, do get in touch.

Get in touch